This invention relates in general to hand operated vehicles and, in particular, to hand operated vehicles for the transportation of materials at construction job sites.
More specifically, this invention relates to hand operated vehicles for conveying soil, concrete of mortar to desired locations at construction job sites. While this invention has general application as a hand operated vehicle for conveying materials, for convenience of illustration the preferred embodiment will be described with reference to a mortar cart or buggy for the delivery of mortar to brick or stone masons, although it is not intended to be limited thereto.
The construction of a structure having brick or cinder block walls or partitions normally entails initially laying a supporting foundation, basememt or the like. As the structure progresses from the foundation level upwardly by the addition of progressive layers of bricks or cinder blocks, it is necessary to erect scaffolding to enable the brick masons to stay at the wall level. This scaffolding not only supports the brick masons but also the bricks, mortar and necessary work tools.
It is common in the construction industry to make a standard mix of mortar having a volume of approximately 9 cubic feet. This mortar is conveyed from the mixing point to the respective utilization points in what is known as a mortar buggy or cart such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,513,469 issued to A. P. Robinson, or in U.S. Pat. No. 2,102,684 issued to R. B. Dorward. However, the disadvantages of using these carts lies in that they individually cannot handle an entire 9 cubic foot mix which necessitates a multiplicity of delivery runs from the mixing point to the utilization point or, in the alternative, requires the purchase of several additional mortar buggies. Therefore, to improve the economic efficiency of the bricklaying operation, it is desirous to deliver the entire 9 cubic foot mix to the appropriate work site as quickly as possible. However, the excessive weight of this volume of mortar cannot be transported by one individual using prior art hand operated vehicles. Additionally, the weight of a standard mix of mortar is more than the aforementioned scaffolding can safely sustain. Accordingly, known vehicles for transporting mortar from supply locations to a work location area are deficient in permitting an entire mix of mortar to be delivered to the point of use and divided for utilization at different locations with safe support on the scaffolding.